Thursday, November 29, 2007

Greetings. Salutations. It's start and sit day and unfortunately I am in a big hurry today. I roll out of town in a few hours so I'm going to be rather brief with today's post. My goal is to still get the consensus start/sit up tomorrow. And remember to check out yesterday's post which has a few start/sit sites up already.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Somehow, I acquired Adrian Peterson (CHI) off the waiver wire last night. I am ranked #2 in this league and thus had the 11th ranking for waiver transactions. Since I had Benson in that league, I put in the request for AP2 and I ended up getting him. Droughns and Cobbs went off the wire first - does anyone else find that odd? Are expectations that low for AP2? Granted, I'm not sure I'll be starting him anytime soon since I've got a little depth at RB, but I can't believe someone actually wanted Cobbs before Peterson. It's a strange fantasy world out there.

So there are of course more waiver wire articles to read this fine morning if you find yourself still in need of grabbing a free agent:

CBS Sports' Playing through the Wire: Fantasy epidemic - an important note is somewhat buried in here - Selvin Young is expected to play this week. He's questionable right now but keep an eye on his status. Another interesting tidbit from the Denver Post: the Raiders haven't scored in 10 of their last 14 quarters when hosting Denver.

NFL's Fabiano: Enjoy Tom Brady's success while it lasts - why Brady is likely to be a massive disappointment next year (my husband is thrilled at that thought) but also a wavier wire focus that includes Isaac Bruce, Justin Gage and my boy Scheffler.

411 Fantasy Football's Week 13 Waivers - need a kicker? How about Scobee, a man with not only a great leg but a great last name, too.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Waiver wire time, my friends. The next few weeks are crucial - either you're trying to make the playoffs or you're so far out of the playoffs race that you're just trying to prove you're better than your record. Either way, we all want to win, no? So take a look at some of the links below for advice on which free agents you should try to grab:

FF Geek Blog - The Wire: Week 13 - as always, these guys continue to churn out some quality stuff. I am particularly interested in Greg Lewis here - haven't seen his name on a ton of other waiver wire sites. Nice work, FF Geeks.

Check out The Hazean's Grab Bag: Week 13. One note of caution, Denver's Andre Hall suffered a high ankle sprain this past weekend but played through it. It's unclear if he'll be able to play this week or not (um, who's left in Denver? Wait - me! I'll get my gear together and try out...though in all seriousness, Wali Lundy has been working out a bit here) - so keep your eye on that situation.

FanNation's Wire Tap advises against Jabar Gaffney even though he has a pretty rad name.

FF Toolbox's Week 13: Pickups of the Week - didn't think I'd be seeing Trent Dilfer's name on here. Ever. But there it is. Along with amazing Tony Scheffler.

As always, more waiver links will be posted tomorrow, as well as some start/sit advice (I hope) for Thursday's game. I am going out of town this weekend - a super last minute decision to fly to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game (and to visit family). I sadly will be flying during both the Thursday night game and the Sunday afternoon games...so I will likely not be on chat after Thursday morning - so get your lineup questions in to me early. I will still get my normal posts up though, never fear!

Monday, November 26, 2007

This was a bit of a hit or miss week for me in terms of advice, like thinking that Chris Henry would be a better start than Chad Johnson. Wrong, completely wrong. Hopefully none of you actually listened to any of my advice except for those Gore owners out there. Finally...my stubborn instance that Frank Gore would have a big game paid off. And part of the reason Gore's performance this week brings me such pleasure is that it was the icing on the cake in my matchup against my nemesis - nemesis, if you're reading this, I actually thought you might win this week what with LT, Andre Johnson, DJ Hackett and the Bears D on your team...but it just so happens that my team is too awesome for that. Romo, Gore, Ryan Grant, Colston, even Tony Scheffler. Total. Domination. And for the second time this season, I have taken you down, nemesis...excellent (said in a Mr. Burns and his scheming fingers kind of voice). Good fight though.

Anyway, enough of my personal fantasy battles - a lot has happened this week, so read on for updates:

Cedric Benson is likely out for the season - anyone who saw him on crutches on the sidelines (during the saddest Broncos loss in a long time...) may have guessed as much. Time to pull that Adrian Peterson handcuff up to the starting lineup.

FF Xtreme's Week 13: Players on the Rise/Decline - Smitty very wisely points out that we should all be looking at Kolby Smith's monster game with a bit of a reality check. Oakland's run D is awful. And whenever a man named Smitty gives me advice, I listen.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Greetings. Can I just comment on how great it is to have football on ALL weekend long? I can't say I'm the biggest supporter of the CU Buffs even though I'm here in Boulder, but their game was on this morning, followed by a day of great college games. Hope you all are enjoying this football holiday as much as I am. And for those of you who have only a limited interest in college football, don't worry, the NFL games are just 40 hours away.

Let's get to IDP information for Week 12:

Fantasy Insider Online's Week 12 Gridiron IDP Roundup - I was pleased to see these guys weren't on vacation from their IDP summary. I'm hoping their prediction for Patrick Willis is right on the money...

Week 12 is already 3 games in (what better way to celebrate Thanksgiving, right?) but there are plenty of start and sit decisions that need to be made for the rest of the games this week. I linked to a handful of start/sit sites on Wednesday so check out those sites as well as the ones below:

I'll be busy today avoiding anything that even looks remotely like a shopping mall, but I'll try to get on chat later this afternoon if anyone has lineup questions. Oh and keep your eyes open for an IDP Forecast post before tomorrow, too.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

For those who are interested, here are a few Monday Night Football photos from the Broncos vs. Titans game earlier this week - who doesn't like photos of football things? Though if you're not into the Broncos, Titans, or the ESPN reporters, then just check back for another post from me later this week on more fantasy related content.

First, we have some shots of the ESPN Monday Night Football game crew - Stuart Scott, Steve Young, and Emmitt Smith are in these shots:The Broncos emerging onto the field amidst flames and fireworks, with the Titans off to the right side of the photo: Jason Elam, the best kicker ever, setting MNF and Broncos records with his field goals and extra points all night long:

Me, gleeful at the end of the game - the white bronco on the south end of Mile High is up above the JumboTron, kind of hidden in the smoke (more flames of course):

It's a winter wonderland here, my football friends. It snowed about 4 inches overnight and it's still coming down - most of Boulder was smart enough to not come to work today - there were 3 of us on the bus this morning. Not cool.

Now, let's talk football here. I'm seeing some mixed results on the start 'em sit 'em posts - some sites have them up, some are still getting up their waiver wire posts. Read on for advice of all kinds:

Start/Sit:

FF Geek Blog - these guys are great. They appeal to my holiday sentimentalities by naming their post Studs and Turkeys: Week 12. And they have good advice - again.

FF Goat - I've heard directly from The Goat that he is madly working his football connections to get all the necessary start/sit information ready. He'll be posting his start 'em sit 'em list for Week 12 this afternoon. Update: wait no longer, here's the Goat's Start 'em Sit 'em and Sleepers for Week 12 post.

So do you all want a consensus start/sit list this week? If so, let me know and I'll squeeze it into my busy apple pie making schedule tonight. I'll also try to get on chat either late afternoon or evening today in case you've got any lineup questions. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Safe travels to those on the road/air this weekend.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Oh yeah. Monday Night Football was phenomenal. It helps that the Broncos won, that it wasn't freezing cold, and that our seats were very close to the ESPN MNF crew. At first we were a little bummed to be in the end zone, but when we got to our seats and saw that we were merely feet away from dudes like Steve Young, Michael Wilbon, Stuart Scott and Emmitt Smith, our seats seemed pretty awesome. Yes, I'm wowed by fame. On a slightly different note, I will say I was intrigued by the halftime show - not sure that any other city would've embraced dog relay racing (actually known as Flyball) during the half time show the way Denver did. Fans around me were calling for the dog Mad Max to win the relay with almost more vigor than they were cheering on Cutler. There is no happier place in the world for a dog than the state of Colorado. Seriously, when I moved here 4.5 years ago the two things I immediately realized were: 1) everyone has a dog and 2) everyone has a Subaru.

Anyway, I'll try and get some photos from MNF up on the blog later today or tomorrow.

Let's get to the waiver wire juice here, friends. Remember, it's a short week, so get your lineups set early.

Rotoworld's Waiver Wired: A Giant Mess - I really like the way this guy spells out what kind of fantasy recommendation he has for each player. Great for those of us without hours to do FF research.

NFL.com's Risers & Fallers: T.O., Schaub headline risers - I grabbed Schaub in a league where my QBs ere hurting and am pretty pleased with that acquisition. Read on for others you might want to get your hands on before your playoffs fate is sealed.

The Hazean's Grab Bag: Week 12 includes Heath Evans now that Sammy Morris and Kevin Faulk are both injured - and oh wait, yes Maroney is injured again, too. As a Maroney owner, I certainly hope this foot injury is short lived.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving week. I'm sitting in a nearly empty library since the students here are all off for the holiday. Oh to be a student again. But I am going to Monday Night Football tonight, so nothing can wipe the perma-grin off my face. Go Broncos.

Unless you've been living in a hole of some sort, you're likely aware that there are three NFL games on Thanksgiving, which means setting up your lineups a heck of a lot earlier than usual. So let's jump right into things and see who might be out there on your waiver wire - or perhaps more importantly at this time of year, who are the sleepers for Week 12?

FF Goat's Fantasy Football Sleeper and Waiver Wire Watch Week 12 - okay, I have to get this off my chest...I recommended to one of you that you sit Santana Moss this week. I hope that you disregarded my advice but in case you didn't, my deepest apologies. Moss and Campbell looked great yesterday - and I also like the Goat's suggestion of Drew Carter. Should Steve Smith miss more time, definitely think about starting Carter...

Think the Pats were running it up last night by going for it on two 4th downs? You're not the only one - read The Fifth Down blog.

A trade in one of my leagues went through on Saturday - I acquired Terrell Owens in this deal. You can only imagine my opponent's outrage yesterday when T.O. kept putting up TDs, sending my point total way above my opponent's (sorry, Ethan). It was glorious. But do you know what else was glorious? Seeing my hometown Redskins playing like a team that was actually gelling. I only wish that it had resulted in a win.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Ah, IDPs. Who doesn't love a league with individual defenders? Read on for advice on which players you should have plugged into your lineup:

Fantasy Insider Online's Week 11 IDP Roundup - I think it gets better every week. Looking for a way to capitalize on that John Beck situation? Check out FIO to see who they recommend...and I do love seeing D.J. Williams' name on there.

Where has The Hive gone? I miss The Hive - bring it back, Fantasy Sharks. Until then, we have Fantasy Sharks' Seadog Report, which while also very helpful, isn't the same as The Hive. What can I say, it's hard to see one of my favorites disappear mid-season...if it magically appears before Sunday, I'll try to update this link.

Happy Friday and here are your consensus start/sits for Week 11. As noted before, I go through all the start or sit sites that I linked to yesterday and today (see below) and find the most common start or sit players for each position. Use this as a guide of course since everyone's lineup is different.

So first, here are some more start/sit sites that have gone up since yesterday:

Thursday, November 15, 2007

I just checked my online chat account for the first time in way too long and realized I've neglected my fantasy football chat recently (the chat is that gray box to the top right of the page). My apologies! Work has been beyond busy but that's probably true for most of us. My plan is to get online a couple nights a week and hopefully on Sunday mornings before game time. And this week, I will definitely be online and available to chat on Friday afternoon (keep in mind I'm on mountain time). So if I never got back to you about a lineup question, I'm sorry about that, and try me again another time!

Start or Sit Day is here! And my MNF countdown is now at 4 days - can't wait. If I could blog from the game, I certainly would. But there's lots of ground to cover before then so let's get right to the start/sit links for this week:

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

I nearly sliced my finger off cooking dinner last night and am operating with a maimed left hand here, so due to the difficulty in typing, this post may be a little abbreviated in terms of commentary. But you're here for the links, not my great insight anyway, right? So read on for some quality waiver wire suggestions for Week 11 of the NFL season.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Are you feeling the effects of Adrian Peterson's LCL damage? Or still trying to rebound from LJ or Shaun Alexander going down? With fantasy playoffs right around the corner, I know we're all eager to polish up our teams. So whether you're looking to secure your playoffs position - or you're just trying to dodge any further fantasy humiliation, take a look at some of the links below for thoughts on who might be available in your league:

NFL.com's Risers & fallers: Young, Chatman highlight risers - really more of a fantasy status update for a large group of players. I find this relatively interesting from a dynasty/keeper league standpoint, too. We're getting to the point in the season where I'm starting to think about grabbing some new free agent who is showing great potential for future years.

Check back with FanNation later today for their Waiver Tap link, which isn't up quite yet.

FF Toolbox's Week 11: Pickups of the Week - they rightly point out that it's only a matter of time before John Beck comes in as the Dolphins' QB, but my question is, do you really want to pick him up? The only NFL team without a win yet and you want their QB on your fantasy team? Didn't think so. Perhaps he'd be an intriguing dynasty selection, though.

Monday, November 12, 2007

After tonight's game, we can officially say goodbye to the bye weeks - I for one am quite pleased to have a full arsenal of fantasy weapons ready for the next several weeks. However, the injury reports never seem to end (I'm sure every AP owner nearly had a heart attack yesterday)...check out either Rotoworld's NFL Headlines or KFFL's Hot Off the Wire for the latest news on injuries and/or lineup changes (Brodie Croyle here to stay?). And speaking of updates, looks like Shaun Alexander is out for tonight's match-up. I'm interested in how much action Leonard Weaver sees or if this will mostly be a Maurice Morris kind of night.

So even though the bye weeks are ending, I know many of you out there are still looking for new players to add to your lineups to ensure a piece of the playoffs pie. Never fear - check out the following links:

FootballDocs' Week 11 Pickup/Drop Advice has been telling us for several weeks now about the value of Chris Henry (WR) and his 99 yards yesterday certainly was impressive. If he's available in your league, get him.

The Bruno Boys bring you a special edition of Work the Wire, the Waiver Wire with their Waiver Wire Mid-Season Master List. This is the first of a two part series - the rest will be out later this week.

As always, I'll be back tomorrow with more links to those free agents you should be targeting this week. Enjoy MNF tonight!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Hope you all are enjoying a nice college football Saturday. My Northwestern Wildcats just won their 6th game meaning they just might go to a bowl game this year depending on the Big Ten tie-ins and such. That would be so sweet.

But let's get to professional football now. I know many of us are awaiting the Sunday morning injury reports before setting our final lineups, so hopefully the following links will be of help:

Friday, November 09, 2007

Time to take a look at some of the IDP prognostications for Week 10 of the NFL season. My personal favorite IDP site, The Hive, is sadly not up on the Fantasy Sharks' site yet. When it appears, I'll get a link up to it. So until then here are a few other sites to check out for advice on which individual defensive players you should have in your starting lineup this weekend.

FFToolbox.com's multi-page Week 10: IDP Sleepers delivers a couple of overlooked dudes that might be available for you to grab this week if you need to fill in for a bye. Or just upgrade your lineup.

If you have Leonard Little, Jonathan Vilma, or Nick Collins, check out CBS' Witness for the Defense: Week 10 for thoughts on who might be replacing them in the lineup now that they're injured. And read on for IDP suggestions and sleeper picks for this week's games.

I think I should also note that in 10 days from now I will almost be en route to Monday Night Football at Invesco Field here in Denver for the Broncos vs Titans game. This being my first MNF experience, I am really looking forward to it. The countdown is on, baby.

It's Friday which means the weekend is a blessed few hours away and I've got your weekly aggregation of the start/sit suggestions out there. First, let's take a look at the start and sit sites that have gone up since my post yesterday:

And onto the consensus picks - I read through the start and sit suggestions from all the links I provide and tally up which players have appeared most under start or sit for each position. Remember, this is just a guide, every lineup is different.

Last Friday I know I failed to get the IDP Forecast up so I'm hoping I'll have a chance to post it by tomorrow at the latest. This has been an insane week at work so my apologies to any of you that I haven't had a chance to respond to yet. I will!

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Welcome to the weekly compendium of start and sit sites. Take a look at some of the links below for thoughts on which players in your lineup should be given the start nod. I'll be back tomorrow with my consensus start/sit suggestions from all these sites.

Now the Bruno Boys not only go above and beyond by providing us with a podcast of their Week 10 Start em or Sit em but they also have some rankings that you might want to take a look at - so far only the WR rankings are up so check back later for more Week 10 wisdom from these experts. By the way, I know I've mentioned it before, but that's The Goat's stellar voice you're hearing as the podcast host. Interestingly, the Bruno Boys note on the podcast that Adrian Peterson is on pace for over 2400 total yards this season. Phe-nomenal. If your fantasy draft was today, would you take AP first? And where would LT fall?

CoachBox's Wheelock's Start/Bench Recommendations Week 10 - I was wondering what the heck happened to Dwayne Bowe last week and Wheelock points out that Eddie Kennison will be returning to the field this week, making Bowe a shaky start yet again. Hmm.

FanNation's Start 'em, Sit 'em: Week 10 - I'm hoping they have some serious psychic skills this week on the JP Losman call. I added Losman to one of my teams this week due to the uncertain Jay Cutler situation. And is Cutler worth playing even if starts this week?? My poor Broncos...

FF Toolbox's Week 10: Start 'em has a little love for Donald Driver this week when the Packers play the Vikings, not exactly a tough pass D for Driver.

Fantasy Tailgate's Starters and Slackers - while it makes me a little sad to see them say the Broncos' D is "beatable from every angle" this is still a post worth perusing.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Hi football fans. For those of you still needing some suggestions on which free agents to grab this week, don't worry...there's a world of waiver wire advice out there. I posted some of those waiver wire sites already on Monday and Tuesday but the list goes on forever.

FanProphet's Week 10: Tuesday Wire Tap is up on Screaming Sports but he doesn't stop there, oh no. FanProphet also provides a weekly series called "The Gospel" that might be most helpful for those of you who do weekly fantasy competitions - right now The Gospel QBs is up and check back often for his RB and WR fantasy predictions for Week 10.

FFToday's Through the Wire: Week 10 - this list goes pretty deep or "scours the barrel" as the author puts it. He also includes some IDP thoughts, which I certainly appreciate.

I alluded to this post yesterday, but here's FanNation's Wire Tap article - have not seen TE Billy Miller mentioned anywhere else yet.

Yahoo's Pickups of the Week - kind of a cool feature of this waiver article is that you can actually see a photo of the players that are being suggested...except for Priest Holmes - where's the Priest?

Fox Sports' Waiver Review: Pick up Fargas, Dunn - it's official. I picked up Maurice Morris. I believe that with a viable runner in there (sorry, Shaun Alexander) that the Seattle offense could be a serious force.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

I simply can't believe how quickly the fantasy football season is flying by. Soon it will be March and I'll be morosely looking at the calendar wishing away the next 5 months. But let's focus instead on all the great free agents pickups you can get this week. Or may be forced to get if your QB got injured this past weekend (oh Cutler...) or you're a Brady owner (hopefully you planned for this...).

The Hazean's Grab Bag: Week 10 is up with some waiver suggestions and ready for your questions. I have not found anyone nearly as good/timely as The Hazean at answering your lineup questions...so go ahead and ask away. You'll have an answer before you know it.

Rotoworld has provided me with some Brady chuckles this morning as well as some helpful insight in their Waiver Wired: Watch Out Models! article. In one league, I am playing against the guy who has Brady this coming week and his only other QB option at the moment is David Carr. I couldn't help but let a wicked laugh escape when I noticed that. What luck for me...

FanNation doesn't have their Wire to Wire article posted yet, but check here for it later today.

FantasySharks' Week 10 Waiver Wire Pickups has a solid listing of players that range from smokin' hot to those who should be on your radar for future weeks. Check it out.

Monday, November 05, 2007

I have a sad confession to make. I have Adrian Peterson in one league and yet did NOT win in that league. Stunning, right? By our scoring standards, he gave me 37.5 points but the rest of my team had a decidedly mediocre week - and my opponent had Hasselbeck, T.O., Randy Moss, and Tony Gonzalez, all of whom had pretty stellar weeks. So while AP hopefully led many of you to a sweet, sweet victory, I am going to have to whip the rest of my team into shape.

Onto other news...were you all wondering why Priest Holmes was suddenly seeing a handful of carries? So was I. Apparently Larry Johnson injured his ankle and will be out for at least one week. And how about Jamal Lewis with 4 TDs? Yeah, I have Derek Anderson in one league and was getting more and more irate each time Jamal ran in a TD, particularly since the guy I was playing had Jamal on his team. [Note: AP broke Jamal Lewis' record of 295 rushing yards from 2003.] And Jay Cutler, Chad Johnson, Jerious Norwood, Ryan Grant, and Ahman Green (surprise, surprise) all injured? It's rough out there. Check out KFFL's Hot Off the Wire for injury updates.

So with those injuries in mind, let's take a look at some early waiver wire thoughts for week 10 of the NFL season:

I'm married to a hardcore Peyton fan - my husband is from Knoxville, TN - so we're having some friends over for the overhyped game this afternoon. However, my sister and her boyfriend are big Pats fans so I imagine there might be some trash talk done via texting this afternoon...can't wait.

And now onto the consensus picks for week 9. I started this feature last week and am tallying up all the start and sit votes I see on the start 'em sit 'em lists I link to every week. Then I give you a list of the 3-5 most popular start and sit players for each position. So if you're short on time and don't want to read every single start/sit article, then read on...

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Start/sit day is here! Week 9 of the NFL season is a mere 3 days away and I'm already getting some lineup questions from some of you dedicated readers out there. Fortunately, there's a bevy of start and sit sites to read and even MORE fortunately, I'll be doing my synopsis again tomorrow in case you just want to read up on the consensus start/sits for week 9.

I think I've made it clear several times that the FF Goat is a great resource - and once again, he doesn't disappoint. Read the Goat's Fantasy Football Start 'em Sit 'em and Sleepers for Week 9 post. Those of you who just picked up Ryan Grant may be sorry to see who is listed under the Goat's sit 'em suggestions....

FF Geek Blog's Studs and Duds: Week 9 - note that they have decided not to focus on players in this week's big game - NE at Indy. So don't be startled that your favorite Colt or Patriot isn't on this well done list.

FanNation's Start 'em, Sit 'em: Week 9 has listed the greatest kicker ever, Jason Elam, as a sit. I know, a kicker? Most of you are probably rolling your eyes at my Elam lovefest here, but the guy is a manimal. Have you seen the number of game winning/tying field goals he's had this year? Much less his monster leg that has withstood the test of time? Right.

Every week FanProphet puts together his "The Gospel" series - check out the RB and QB posts, which include projected fantasy points.

About Me

So why Fantasy Football Librarian? I have been playing fantasy football now for 12 years. I'm also a librarian at a museum in New York City (though my family and I now live in Knoxville, Tennessee) and I love to research stuff. What could be better than combining my love for football and research? So in September 2006, I launched FFLibrarian to try and create one place for fantasy football fans to find the info they need to succeed in their leagues.
From 2007-2013, I conducted an accuracy analysis of the experts' rankings with support from the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, and have written columns for The New York Times' Fifth Down blog and the Bruno Boys.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions. Here's to the 2016 season!